SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION, CATALYTIC AND BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS OF SILICA SUPPORTED COPPER NANOPARTICLES

Various metal nanoparticles have been synthesized which are used in chemical as well as medicinal industry, but many of them are associated with problems. Hence, there is a need to develop a method for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles with fewer problems. Synthesized Cu/SiO2 nanoparticles have been characterized by XRD, SEM and EDS analysis. Further, their catalytic activity was estimated by various chemical reactions. Antibacterial activity, cytotoxic activity against breast cancer cell lines, acute toxicity and blood biochemical assay were determines. Particles size of Cu/SiO2 was found to be within 20-50nm. Synthesized nanoparticles were catalytically active in performed chemical reactions. Cu/SiO2 was found to be an active antibacterial against gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Acute toxicity and blood biochemical assay help to conclude that the synthesized nanoparticles are non-toxic.